Sierra Leone has a great need for primary medical care. It is one of the poorest countries in the world and its people continue to suffer from numerous, preventable health issues. Poor infrastructure combined with a lack of resources and trained medical professionals severely limits access to healthcare. The 2014 Ebola epidemic further weakened the healthcare system and devastated families and communities.
In the midst of this outbreak Phebian Abdulai, a refuge from Sierra Leone living in Buffalo NY, took a medical team from Buffalo’s Jericho Road Community Health Center to open the Adama Martha Memorial Community Health Center. They eventually established a second clinic to serve the needs of the families there.
The clinics in Sierra Leone now need three or four solar storage batteries, which cost $650 each. Pastor Dave told Phebian … St. Paul’s can cover that expense … we will ask our friends and family members to help! Please mark your donations “Sierra Leone Clinics.”
We greatly appreciate it when you click the checkbox, “Add $– to help cover the fees.” If you don’t add this amount, the church must pay the fee, so we don’t receive the full amount that you donate.
To designate your gift for our Sierra Leone Project, choose “Special” on the drop-down menu. Once you insert the amount and choose PayPal or Credit Card, on the next screen you will see, “Write a Note.” You can let us know that the gift is for the Sierra Leone Project.
Phebian’s Story
Phebian Abdulai (wearing white in the photo) was born in Sierra Leone, the daughter of a Kono District midwife. Inspired by her mother’s hard work and compassionate care, Phebian dreamed of being a nurse. Her path changed drastically, however, when a decade-long civil war erupted in Sierra Leone in 1991. Phebian and her family fled to the neighboring country of Gambia, where they lived in a refugee camp. She and her family were able to safely resettle in Buffalo in 2001.
Phebian is my friend.
After being a patient of Jericho Road Community Health Center in Buffalo, Phebian approached the founder of Jericho Road, Dr. Myron Glick, with her dream … how God wanted to use her. She told Dr. Glick that God wanted her to return to Sierra Leone to create health clinics where there were none.
In December 2009, a team of Jericho Road healthcare providers from Buffalo NY, led by Phebian, traveled to Sierra Leone to begin laying the groundwork for a clinic. In December 2013, the Ebola epidemic erupted in West Africa; two years later, nearly 29,000 cases were documented worldwide and over 11,000 people had died.
Approximately 4,000 victims lost their lives in Sierra Leone. Phebian and a medical team from Buffalo’s Jericho Road kept working, opening the Adama Martha Memorial Community Health Center in the midst of this outbreak. Working with an alliance of other partners, there are now three clinics in Sierra Leone.
In December of 2022 the Adama Martha clinic performed 17 surgeries and saw 1312 patients.
Pastor Dave